Shock absorber



mama. Msi-.1 fzs, 19a-1f SHOCK ABsonBEa Ralph `I. Bates, Dayton, Ohio, assigner to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware `Application June 15, 1936, SerialNo. 85,289

" y claims. (ci. lss-ss) lThis invention relates to improvements iny hydraulicshockabsorbers. i

l l It is `among the objects of the present invention to provide axhydraulic shock absorber with i 5 means'that willreduce noise caused by reciprocation ofthe shock absorberpiston. V x A vfurther object of the present `inventionis to provide a hydraulic shock absorber with aI cushioning `element between the piston and its actuatorwhere'by impact noises, caused by rotation of the piston` as it is being reciprocated, are substantially eliminated. `Further objects and advantages of thepresent invention will' be apparent -from the following description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawing, wherein a preferredembodiment of the present invention is clearly shown. In the drawing: l i Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side view ofa vehicle chassis, with` wheels removedfa shock absorber equipped with the present' invention-being shown attachedthereto. n l

Fig.4 21is a longitudinal sectional view 'taken through the center of the-shock absorber cylin- 25 der showing the silencing element of the present invention applied to the. shock absorber piston;

,and ,i i

Fig. 3 isa perspective view of the silencing element.`

Referringto the drawing, the numeral 2li designates thefram'e of the vehicle which is supported `upon, the .vehicle axlef2l by springs 22. The shock absorber,` designated as a whole `by the numeral 23,`ccmprises a casing 24 which is at- 35 tached to the vehicle frame in any suitable manner. This casing provides a cylinder portion 25, closed at both ends by the cylinder heads 26. A t transverse rocker-shaft 21 is journalled in the casing 24, one end of saidshaft extending to the "40 exterior thereof and having the shock absorber operating arm 28 secured thereto. The free end of this arm 23 has one end o1' the link 29 attached to it, the other end of the link being secured to the vehicle axle 2l by the clamp 30.

45 Within the casing 24 shaft 21 hasan operating cam or lever 3l secured thereto so that said cam will osciilate with the` shaft. This cam 3l extends into a rectangularly shaped recess 32 `provided. in the piston 33 reciprocably carried 50 within the cylinder portion 25 of the casing. This piston may be of the standard one-piece construction, or of the construction as shown in the drawing, in which the piston comprises two separate portions 33a and`33b secured together by `55 two Studs ll and 35. Stud u slidably extends `througha` channel in piston "portion 33a and threadedly engages piston portion 33h. A spring `34ai`s interposed between the head of stud 34 and pistn portion 33a. Stud 35, on the contrary, extends `slidably through a passage in piston portion 33o and is threadedly received by an aligned passage in piston portion 33a. Like stud 34, this stud 35 has a spring 35a interposed between its Vhead and the piston portion 33h, both springs 34a and 35a urging the piston portions 33a ,andl 33h 10 toward each other, or more specifically toward the operating cam 3| which, as has .been described, extends into the recess 32 provided in the piston intermediate its ends. To provide for longer wear,` each piston portion has a wear-piece or l5 button 40 made of wear-resisting material,` said buttons being engaged by the operating cam 3L Each button comprises a head portion lying withinthe confines of the recess 32 and a shank portion extending into a bored-out opening in a pis- 20 tonportion. 1

Each piston portion 33a and 33h has a through passage providing forfthe'transfer of fluid from one side lof the. piston to the otheras the piston is reciprocated and suitable fluid ow control 25 devices regulate this fluid flow. inasmuch as these parts vof the shock absorber do not enter into the invention, no further description thereof will be made. n

-When shock absorbers as shown in thev accompanying drawing are produced commercially in` great numbers it is practically impossible lto obtainv perfect alignment between the contacting surfaces' of the operating cam 3| and the piston wear-pieces .or buttons 40. ;Very often high spots will be present in one or the other of these `parts and these high spotswilicause the piston to rotate as the cani exerts pressure upon one or the other wear-piece or button 40 to reciprocate rthe piston. Rotation of the piston causes the longer 40 or side walls of the recessed piston parts to strike thevoperating cam 3l, such impact resulting in a very perceptible and objectionable noise which may readily be heard in a vehicle. the other parts of which are operating substantially without noise. To eliminate this impact between the piston and its operating cam, the present invention provides a cushioning element in the form of a U-shaped blade spring, the base or body portion 5I thereof having an opening-52 through 5o which the stud of a wear-piece or button 40 extends for the purpose of securing the cushioning element within the piston by causing the head oi said button to clamp the element upon the piston. The cushioning element has two parallel vgreat numbers.-

arm portions 53 and 54 each of which, when said element is secured in its place on the piston, extends into the space between a wall of the recess 32 of the piston and the adjacent side of the operating cam 3|. As shown in Fig. 3, each arm has an inwardly curved portion i5, intermediate the end of the arm and the body portion 5|, the said curved portion having a line engagement with the adjacent side of the operating cam. The two portions of the arm on each side of the curved portion are substantially flat and engage the adjacent wall of the recess 32. The resiliency of arms 53 and 54 and their contact with adjacent surfaces of the piston recess wall and operating cam will naturally resist rotation of the piston and thus the tendency of noises produced by this impact due to such rotation is substantially eliminated.

Thus when the axle 2| is thrust upwardly toward the vehicle frame 20, due to the striking of an obstruction by the roadwheels, link 29 and arm 23 will rotate shaft 21 and its operating cam 3| clockwise or toward the left as regards Fig. 2 and consequently cam 3| will exert pressure upon the ,wear-piece or button A4|) in piston portion 33a, moving it toward the left to exert a pressure upon the fluid in the left end of the cylinder 25. If a high spot on either the cam 3| or said button 40 exists, then this pressure of the cam on said button will tend to rotate the piston, which rotation, however, is resisted and substantially eliminated due to the presence of the peculiarly shaped arms 53 and 54 of the cushioning element 50 being interposed between adjacent surfaces of the cam-and piston. This same is true if the piston is moved toward the right by the counter-clockwise rotation of the cam 3| in response to rebounding movement of the axle 2| from frame 20 under the iniluence of the vehicle springs 22.

From this it may be seen that the present invention provides for a quietly operating shock absorber by substantially preventing rotation of the piston caused by imperfectly machined cooperating surfaces, which imperfections are practicallyunavoidable, especially when devices of this. kind are i produced commercially and in While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, itis to be understood that other forms might be produced, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

`What is claimed is as follows: l

, 1. In a shock absorber having a casing providing a cylinder, the combination with an op erating cam oscillatably supported in the. casing, of a piston in said cylinder, having a recess into which said operatingcam extends,said piston being adapted to be reciprocated by said cam;

and yieldable means interposed between and engaging the cam and piston for resisting rotation of the piston.

2. In a shock absorber having a casing providing a cylinder. the combination with an operating cam oscillatably supported in the casing, of a piston vin said cylinder, having a recess into which said operating cam extends, said piston being adapted to be reciprocated by said cam; and a spring member having portions extending between and engaging the two opposite sides of the cam and the adjacent walls of the piston recess respectively for resisting rotation of the piston.

3. In a shock absorber having a casing providing a cylinder, the combination with an operating cam oscillatably supported in the casing; of a piston in said cylinder, having a rectangular recess for receiving the cam, two of the opposite sides of the recess being provided with wear resisting buttons engaged by the cam for reciprocating the piston; and yieldable means secured to the piston by a button and having portions extending into the space between and engaging the side of the cam and the adjacent wall of the piston recessI for preventing rotation of the piston.

4. In a shock absorber having a casing providing a cylinder, the combination with an operating cam oscillatably supported in the casing; of a vpiston in said cylinder, having a rectangular recess for receiving the cam, two of the opposite sides of the recess being provided with wear resisting buttons engaged by the cam for reciprocating the piston; and a spring member secured to the piston by one of the buttons and having two arm portions each, one of which extends into the space between a piston recess wail and the adjacent surface of vthe cam, said arm portions engaging both piston and cam for preventing rotation of the piston.

5. In a shock absorber having a casing providing a cylinder, the combination with an operating cam oscillatably supported in the casing; ,of a piston in said cylinder, having a rectangular recess for receiving thecam, two of the opposite sides of the recess being provided with wear resisting buttons engaged by the cam for reciprocating the piston; and a spring member secured to the piston by one of the buttons and havingV two arm portions each, one of which extends into the space between a piston recess wall and the adjacent surface of the cam, each arm having two substantially fiat and an intermediate curved portion, the former engaging the wall of the piston recess, the curved portion engaging the adjacentl cam surface for preventing rotation of the piston.

RALPH I. BATES. 

